Paper bag or envelop.



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G. A. MEADOWS. PAPER BAG 0R ENVELOP. APPLICATION FILED Nov.1e. 19o-1.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFIoE.

:CHARLES A. MEADOWS,.OF YONKERS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO MER- CHANTS PRINTING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PAPER BAG OR ENVELOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3,1906.

` Application tiled November 16.1904. Serial No. 232.924

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. MEADOWS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper Bags or Envelops, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming part of the same. My invention relates to paper-receptacles in the form of a bag or envelop, and has for its object to provide an article of this kind which may be readily opened after being sealed and which may then be spread out into a sheet.

The envelop-blank may bear printed or other characters on its inner as well as on its outer surface, so that upon opening the envelop the printed matter thereon is presented conveniently for reading. The d evice therefore serves not only as a readily-opened envelop or container for transmission through the mails or otherwise, but also a circular or folder upon which advertising or other matter may be placed.

A further object of the invention is to prot or vide a bag or envelop in which the mou opening through which the contents of the envelop are inserted is expansible-that is, may be'expanded to a larger size than normal for the purpose of readier insertion of the merchandise or other contents, and then contracted wholly or partially to its normal size before being closed by the flap or other closing device. This expansible feature greatly facilitates the insertion of the contents'of the bag, and where large numbers of them are used, as for pay-envelops for sending,r out samples, &c., the economy of time and abor thus secured becomes a considerable item.

A further object isl to provide means for readily o ening the envelo applicable not only to tie specific article herein described, but also in general to envelops or bags made of material which can be severed by tearing.

Another object of the invention is to pro-. vide an article embodyin the features described above, which shal bel as simple as possible .in construction, and therefore inexpensive to manufacture.

ferred form in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows the blank from which the envelop is made, the surface presented to the view being that which is afterward the outer surface of the envelop. Fig. 2 shows the completed envelop. withits filling-o ening expanded. Fig. 3 shows the circu ar or folder produced by opening the envelop. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the preferred location of the perforations in the flap which closes the mouth or filling-opening of the bag relative to the line of fold of the said flap. Fig. 5 isa section on line V V of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the mouth of the envelop illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, showing the form assumed by themouth when the side edges of the envelop are compressed.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I use a blank`1 of a general square or rectangular shape, having on opposite sides and near the center iiaps 2 3. One corner of the blank is provided with a projection or tab 4.

In the completed bag. the end bearin the tab 4 (or either end, if each has a ta is close to the ed esof the folded ends of the blank, but on a ine removed from these edges an amount equal to or greater than the height of the tab 4, as indicated bythe line ef. The flap 3 is then sealed down, and in so doing the inner tab 4 may be caught by the gum or glue on the flap. .The innerj body-iiap carrying the tab is thereby fastened at its innermost corner to the end flap 3, thus preventing the said body-flap from being wholly withdrawn from its-folded position. In this way the blank is made into a ba or envelop, as shown in Fig. 2. The body-aps are unattached at their upper ends, so that they may be opened out to a certain extent, thus enlarging or expanding the mouth of the bag, as shown. When the contents of the envelop have been inserted, the mouth contracts or may be contracted wholly or partially to its normal size, and the sealing-flap 2 is then glued down upon the outermost body-flap.

IOO

dent that if the end flap 2 be severed access may be had to the contents of the envelop, which still retains its character as a bag or container and may be utilized as such,as is often desirable; but'upon severing the other end flap also the envelop may be opened out into a perfectly flat sheet ,revealing the matter written or printed on the inner surface. For the purpose of severing the flaps they may be perforated along the proper lines, and in order to tearthe same readily and quickly I prefer to employ a severing string or Wire threaded through the perforations. A convenient method is to sew a thread along the tearing-line, leaving one or both ends of the thread projecting, which may be grasped and pulled, thereby tearing the paper and releas in the flaps. This method possesses anotfer advantage in that the tab 4 may be fastened to the flap by this line of stitchin thus making it unnecessary to secure the ta by gum, The severing of the'iiap bypulling the thread willA of course release the tab at the same time. The provision of a tearingstring obviates danger of injury to the contents of the envelop in opening the same, as

` might happen if the perforations Were located a sufcient distance from the edge to make a tearing-strip wide'enough to be grasped by.Y

the fingers. I'n such case if no -severingstring were used'the contents of the bag might extend .beyond the perforations toward the edge, and sobe grasped and torn With the tearing-strip. f The stitching or severing string also reinforces the edge of the envelop and greatly increases its resistance to tearing across the edge, since before the paper can be torn'downward across the 'edge the string itself must be broken.

A more convenient arrangement for graspc ing the tearing-thread is shown in Figs. l and shown in Figs. 4,5, and 6.

2. Each flap 2 3 is provided on the line of its fold with an opening, as 5, so. that when folded down a portion of the -thread intermediate to its ends is Wholly exposed, as shown at 6, Fi 2, and thusmay be readily grasped andpul yed to open the envelo I .The stitch# ing -in the case of flap 2 may e either along its line of fold, as shown in Fig. 2, or between thel fold and the edges of the body-flaps, as I prefer to stitch iiap 2 not on theline of fold, but between the fold and the edges of the body-flaps; This,v

method is more economical in the labor of manufacture, as With the iiap folded down the envelop can run through the sewin -machine very rapidly, the folded edge eing merely held a ainst a guide to make the row of stitches o uniform distance from said edge, whereas to sew the fia' on the line of fold necessitates sewing be ore the iiap is folded, While it is flat. Some care is then necessary to make the stitching straight and accurate. Furthermore, the form shown in Figs, 4 and 5 possesses an advantage in the caseta fact that when the flap 2 is opened the stitching and double thickness of the fold' constitute a strengthening-rib, while the tearingaperture 5 acts as a hinge, causing the bend to occur at that point, as indicated in Fig. 6. This construction to a considerable degree facilitates the insertion of the contents of the envelop, since the mouth may be readily opened merely by compressing the side ed e of the envelop. In the other flap 3 the stitc e ing should be between the fold and the edges lof the body-flaps, so as to en age the tab 4, as shown in dotted lines in ig. 3. In the construction just described the ends of the threads need not be left projectin but may be cut off close to the edge of the ag. It is obvious that this arrangement for opening a bag or envelop is not confined to use in connection with that herein shown, but is of general applicability to bags or envelops made of material which may be severed by tearing.

tion or stitching of the flap 3 Was effected after the flap is folded down and'gummed in position; but it is obvious that the stitching may be done before folding, as in the case of flap 2, care being taken that the tab 4 is sewed to the flap. The lattermay then be folded .along the line of stitching, as is done in the case of flap 2 in Fig. 2, or in a line slightly removed therefrom. The stitching, the crease, and the grasping-opening in each flap should, however, register closely ,enough to enable the thread or wire to be readily seized, as shown in Fig. 2. I

It will be noted that in Fig. l the advertisement or other reading matter is not complete" that is, it ends Without completing the sense of the article or Without giving all the .information that it is very evidently. meant to convey. 0n the inner surface,

pleted. The reader thus has an incentive to tear open the envelo to see What is on the in- `side. At the end o the matter on the outer side a sentence 'may be added, as shown in Fig. l, explaining how access may be had to the reading matter on the inside. Of course pictures may be substituted for reading matter, or bothreading matter and pictures may 4be used, as desire Having now described Imy invention, what I claim is 1`. As a new article of manufacture, a bag vor envelop comprising a body portion having side or body flaps folded one u on the other and unsecured along their siges, and end flaps one of which constitutes the closure for the envelop, the other end flap and the side orbody flaps being secured together and prol vided with means for severing the end fla l, and simultaneously releasing the side or Ibody iaps, the closure end fla being ada ted to .be sealed to the outer side or body a and provided with means for severing the fblded In the form shown in Fig. 2 the perfora- IOO however, the article or advertisement is comedge from the sealed portion7 whereby When the ends of the'sealed envelop are severed the or envelop having body-flaps folded one upon the other, the inner body-flap havin a tab or projection extending beyond the a acentI edge of the outer body-Hap, an end flap folded ulplon the body flaps, having a line of stitc lng enga ing the tab on the inner .bodyflap, the thread of said stitching being adapted to be grasped and pulled to sever the end flap and tab, a second end flap adapted to be folded upon the body-flaps and to be secured to the outer body-fiap, and means for severing the said second end 'ap; whereby severing the end flaps enables the bag or envelop 2o to be opened as a sheet, as set forth.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a bag or envelop having body-flaps folded one upon the other, the inner body-flap having a tab or projection extending beyond the adjacent edge of the outerbody-iiap, an end Hap folded upon the body-flaps havingan opening in its line of fold and a line of stitching engaging the tab on the inner Hap and extending across the said opening. a second end flap adapted to be folded upon the body-flaps and to be secured to the outervbody-liap, said second end flap having an opening in its line of fold and a line of stitching extending across its opening; whereby the threads of the stitchings may be grasped Where exposed by the said openings, as set forth.

`CHARLES A. MEADOWS. Witnesses: M. LAWSON DYER, S. S.. DUNHAM. 

